An MTA board member, Charles Moerdler, said he first wanted to ban backpacks but later explained that riders should be required to take them off as a courtesy, AM New York reported. Moerdler realized backpacks were a problem when his granddaughter was wearing one that stuck "out a mile back" in the subway.

"I believe that you ought to get them off the back and onto the floor so they don't hit people when you make an inadvertent movement or the train comes to a sudden stop," Moerdler said.

"When you get to the hardcore violators and courtesy doesn't work, then you have to take enforcement action," Moerdler told AM New York.